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I have just discovered parippu vadas. I think they are very nice but maybe seem a little dry. Are they conventionally served with some sauce, or raita, or chutney or other complement?

I have a huge, organic chicken in the freezer crying out to be cooked. I've always wanted to try making Murgh Massalam [sp?] but can't seem to find any decent recipes. Can any of you enlighten me, the simpler the better.

My favorite dish at the local Indian takeout place was Chicken Patia. It was quite sour, and the color was an extremely vibrant reddish-purple. At some point the ownership of the store changed, and although the menu remained the same, the Chicken Patia quickly became less distinct and less tasty. It was less sour and the interesting color was completely gone ... basically the dish had slid into a sort of generic, boring curry. I'd like to try and make the dish I ate before. I assume you use a good amount of vinegar. But where does the purple come from?

I find myself wondering what people think of the onion relish you often are served in many Indian restaurants in the US. Do people enjoy this relish? Where does it come from? What version of it does your local Indian restaurant serve? Have you ever asked for a recipe?

The recent discussion on paneer (Indian cheese) got me thinking about vinegar in Indian cooking. It was mentioned that rice vinegar is sometimes used in place of citrus acids, I had never really associated rice vinegar with India before. How popular is rice vinegar in India? Is it similar to the rice vinegar found in Japan and other Asian countries? What other types of vinegar are used through out India? Are they "traditional" in the sense that they were created in India by Indians without outside influences? Are there certain types of dishes where vinegar plays a heavy part? Oh dear, I am starting to sound more and more like Suvir with the multiple questions!

Ask Gael (New York Magazine) Whose Indian food really stands out? Let Jaipur-born chef Hemant Mathur deliver Diwan’s amazing new $50 tasting menu for a nirvana that would be tough to orchestrate on your own........ Click here to read further.

Can someone please answer a question? I'm just going to copy my question from the Half and Half thread from Pastry and Baking. There's a discussion going on about how to make your own half and half regarding fat content, if half and half's not available where you are. Suvir's lovely kulfi recipe started it all. Thanks a mil.

Has there ever been a discussion of Indian juice bars on the board? I have a question relating to so-called 'special juices' which are sometimes on offer in such places. In Indian-run juice bars in the Emirates these often have great names, but there is often no clue as to what kind of fruit cocktail they consist of, and I am curious as to whether there exists a set of names that Indians across the world would recognise. I know that a 'Lexus' consists of mango and avocado juice with ice cream, but what about a 'Disco', a 'Titanic', a 'www', a 'Valentine Day' or a 'Computer'? I would guess that mixes such as 'Mumtaz' and 'Wastha' are specific to this part of the world, but perhaps I am wrong? I have a lot of affection for such juice bars as I think they provide drinks which are both tasty and nutritious.

The other day I decided to buy some atta flour (Indian Wheat Flour) for chapatis. I had never made them before, but they sounded fun. I used the recipe on the side of the bag since I was too eager to go look up Suvir's recipe in the Archive. The recipe called for 1/3 C of water to every 1 C of flour. I went with 2C of flour and 2/3 C of water. The dough turned out pretty good and was easy to work with. In order to get a ~5 inch chapati, I had to take dough balls a little smaller than Golf balls and roll them out. When you make chapatis, do you roll and cook them one or two at a time or do you roll all of them out and then cook them? To cook them I got my large nonstick skillet out and put it on high heat. I tossed a chapati in there and waited. Slowly it turned slightly opaque and then little bubbles started to fill with air. I turned it over when there were golden brown spots on the one side. I let the other side cook as the chapati filled with hot air. I took it out of the pan with tongs and then put it to an open burner. Poof! It filled up with air and was nearly as thick as it was wide. Success! I kept the finished chapatis warm on a plate covered with a towel. The result was very nice and fun to eat with the Turkey Masala I made. Next time I think I will salt the dough for some more flavor. I was thinking that even a bit of ground Garam Masala in the dough might work out too. Any other chapati tips or tricks out there? Ben

Author Private Message [ Delete PM ] hollywood Group: Member Posts: 2557 Joined: 13-June 02 QUOTE A Tandoor is a clay pot oven with a bed of charcoal burning at the bottom,it has a large mouth with a lid at the top and a smaller appurture at the bottom.the temperature is regulated by opening or closing the the top and bottom openings allowing for passage of a stream of air making the charcoal at the bottom burn intensely or slowly. meats and sometimes vegetables are skewered on long steel rods called seekhs (plural) and charcoal broiled in this oven. The flat breads like naan ( from the persian word noon meaning bread) roti and paratha etc are smacked onto the interior hot clay wall, where they stick and get cooked. when done these are pried off with utensils made especially for the purpose. Foods prepared this way generally get termed ' Tandoori' like tandoori chicken or tandoori roti. Even though Indian restaurants would have you believe that tandoors are very Indian they have existed for years in persia, the middle east, afganistan, pakistan etc. Tandoors embeded in the ground have been found in central Asia and were used by the mongols, who were nomadic warriors, they conqured northern India and brought these over.Theories abound. If you can get your hands on TANDOOR the Great Indian Barbeque By Ranjit Rai its a whole big book devoted to the tandoor and various reciepes. A tandoori chicken is a whole or halved chicken, incisions are given so the marinade can work better. In a basic restaurant style reciepe A marinade is prepared with yogurt, salt, garam masalla, cayenne powder, lemon juice, fresh ground ginger and garlic pastes. The chicken is allowed to marinate at least a few hours and then skered and charcoal broiled in a moderately hot tandoor basting occasionally with oil or ghee, until it is done. Some chefs prefer to rub the chicken with the dry spices and ginger garlic pastes and let it sit a while before adding the yugurt and the rest of the stuff. Some will cook the chicken half, hang it for a while and let the heat cook it through, then finish it off. There is no wrong way, whaever works for you. Prior to farm raised birds a tenderiser like raw papaya paste would be used to soften up the free range chickens which were tough. Patting the bird dry prior to marination will ensure the marinade sticks well and hanging the yourt in a muslin cloth will produce a thicker tastier marinade. In a restaurant 3 to 3 1/2 lb chickens ( split into two) are used and an order takes about 18 -20 minutes to execute. On a grill use the indirect method and a few hickory chips will add more flavour. Why is the tandoori chicken so red??? Contrary to what some people have been led to believe it is simply Food Color! Use of red food dyes was banned in the New delhi Hotel where I worked because it was a petrochemical derivative and considered a carcenogen and there were severe penalties if the health deptt. caught you. We started without any food color but our customers did not accept a timid tandoori chicken things settled down , though, once we reached for that bottle of food color. Lets do the tikka masalla another time!! BBhasin This is good stuff. You should put it on a general post, but I appreciate the PM. thanks.

I desparately need help on an Andhra recipe.. if you think you can help PM me and I will explain all! Thanks

The Mobius Strip threads on eGullet - which discuss heirarchies of cuisines and are found in the General Food Section under various guises such as How to Approach an Unfamiliar Cuisine, the Measure of All Things - have led me to seek official documented histories of Indian Cuisine. There seem to be thousands of such books about European cuisine which traces the origins of it, the entry of various influences, ingredients and techniques, the priorities, the passions, the prejudices ...... What I know about Indian cuisine and it's development is from growing up there and a little from translated bits of the Vedas. Does anyone know of a book about the history and development of Indian cuisine?

Sorry for my current absence from the Indian forum, but I'm finalising menu's and getting readied for our summer season. I really miss the time I had here so recently. I'm having a night off tonight though! A going away party for one of my Chef friends who's moving to open up a restaurent in Spain. Some guys have all the luck Slainte!

The use of rice noodles in Kerala cooking is common in breakfast and lunch dishes. However, we don't see many interpretation on Indian menus here in the US. How are rice noodles prepared? What are some good traditional rice noodle dishes? I think the use of rice noodles would be a creative and interesting addition to an Indian menu.

Certainly my love of Italian food is well known. I also am passionate about the cuisines of France and Spain. It was easy for me to reach out and discover these cuisines because my European heritage and my business led me in that direction. Also as wine was not only my vocation but my avocation I was led towards the cuisines of wine producing nations. Because food has become a passion in my life this has of course extended my interest to other cuisines. India strikes me as one of the most fascinating of all. However I have never had the pleasure to visit India and taste the real thing so all of my reference points are from Indian restaurants in the United States. While I have thoroughly enjoyed many of these restaurants I always have a vague sense of insecurity about what I am eating. Italians hate to eat in Italian restaurants in the United States because they find the food a disappointing shadow of real Italian cooking. I would imagine the same situation exists for Indian restaurants. Where is a good starting off point to experience the cuisine of India if you have not traveled there? What are the 'tourist' dishes to avoid and what are standards that you must try? I assume Indian cuisine is just as regionally diverse as Italy - are there representations of this regional diversity here? Where does a rookie start?

A story about the Empress of India restaurant in the Lakes Region of England seems to be making the rounds in various newspapers. A prominent businessman, Moshinali Darugar, was told that he could not get a seat because the restaurant was full. However, when the white manager of his hotel called, he was able to get table right away. Here is the justification put forth by the assistant manager: What are your feelings about this? Can any of you who are restauranters empathize with the pressures that led to this decision (even if you do not condone the decision itself)? Are there really such major and systematic differences in the types of Indian food that Asians and Westerners like?

In an indian cooking class I attended today we used a spice called kasuri methi in a cheese curry dish. I thought I was quite familiar with Indian spices but had never heard of this before. It was a very green color and in powder form. It was added to the curry at the very end of cooking with the garam masala. What is it and what other types of dishes is it used in. I also had my first experience with black cardamom, wonderful, wonderful stuff!

As we speak of Indian restaurants across the many regional US and other forums, it gets difficult to keep track of them without making it an ordeal. The system is great, if you know the name, you can search easily, but I think this thread could serve the novice well, by giving links to the many Indian restaurant threads we have had in the past. Please take time and post a link (or two) to the Indian restaurant (s) that you may have started a thread on, or remember reading about on eGullet. Maybe you can say a few things as you post the link as to why that particular restaurant works for you. Or just why you have taken time to post about it. Thanks all for contributing to this thread.

Hi Tomorrow night, Monday, I have three Indian Chefs and an Indian restaurant owner from Glasgow coming to visit me. Essentially a social visit, I'd asked one of them, Raja, a while back for some help/suggestions for my summer menu. For a whole variety of reasons this is about a month behind schedule. Now they are coming to my shop to have a look at my facilities before making suggestions. I think I've mentioned this before, but when I ask these guys for help they don't do things in half measures. I haven't a clue what to make for them. Should I offer them something completely different to Indian cuisine? Two of them, Kayani & Deven, are top class chefs and I'm nervous as hell about making them an Indian meal. Basically I don't know what to offer them. HELP!

Recently I have noticed a number of posters here who own their own restaurants/are chefs at Indian restaurants... I would love to hear from them on a couple of things: -- How has Indian food at your restaurant changed over the past years? -- What has been your experience in this industry -- What is the most asked for item on the menu and why do you think that is -- Cooking related question -- WOuld you share your most prized recipe/ cooking tip/ cooking story with us

So I got myself a tandoor in my back yard. Now it's the time to start explore the Indian BBQ land. I had a brief look at the book called (hope I'm not mistaken) Tandoor by Ranjit Rai Also the guy hwo gave me the tandoor said that before using it fot the first time I should make a sirop-like coating inside the oven ?! - Does anyone know what kind of sirop should I prepare (Molassa + Water 50/50 - or something else?) This is to prevent the breads from sticking to the walls of the tandoor. Then I should fill it with fresh (= not charcoil) woods and burn it for several hours. - Also - is this the way to do it?

In light of all these restaurant threads. 1. What was the best Indian meal you ever had.. rate it on Food, service, ambiance. etc, 2. Why was it the best, what specifically did you like If we have done this question before, I apologize.

Any ideas what one should expect at the Graduation weekend in an Indian household? Are there things Indian do differently from others in the US? Are there things that are similar? Does such an event even matter in an Indian household? Are their parties that happen? Guests that sleep over? Special foods that are cooked? What gifts does one take the family? What should one expect?

I've recently become interested in greasy things and my interest was piqued when I got ahold of the Dalda cookbook published by Lever Brothers Pakistan, where every other recipe calls for Dalda banaspati. Being that banaspati seems to refer to ghee-flavored hydrogenated vegetable shortening, one would expect that it would be a relatively recent invention and thus have to an English name rather than "banaspati". Can anyone tell me when and how it was invented, as well the origin/meaning of the name? Thank you . . .

Do you mostly make it at home? How many items would you have at any given meal made at home for your daily meal? Go out to restaurants? Any particular items you like to eat more often? If you own an Indian restaurant, can you share with us what your meal pattern is? If you are non-Indian, could you tell us how often you prepare an Indian meal or even inspired by India meal? Do you have or know kids that follow a similar pattern to yours in regards to Indian food? What Indian foods do these kids find most appealing to them? Have they grown up outside of India and eating Indian food?